


Looking Back

by quicksparrows



Series: For Emmy – Frederick x Rosella [8]
Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-29
Updated: 2016-12-29
Packaged: 2018-09-13 04:41:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9107020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quicksparrows/pseuds/quicksparrows
Summary: As they flee the deserts of Plegia and the horrors they've witnessed, Frederick sees Rosella look back.





	

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He is broken, in a way, when Emmeryn dies. He never imagined failure would weigh on his heart as much as his soul.

As they flee the sands of Plegia and reach the border of the desert, Frederick sees Rosella stops in her tracks to look back. It crosses his mind to be angry with her — they are so far from home, and though there is little ahead of them but a broken halidom and deep grief, there is nothing left to be wrung from Plegia but death. Why stop? Why look back? Why, for Gods sakes, look back?

But grief stays his tongue, and instead he watches her for a long moment. Her coat's hem trails in the hot wind and her ponytails catch on the air, twisting like banners, but she doesn't even stop to brush them out of her face. She just stares into the abyss of the desert, at the horror they've left behind.

He approaches slowly and realizes there are tears streaming down her face.

"Rosella," he says, and though he still feels the urge to be angry, his anger fades to exhaustion.

"Sorry," she says, turning to him and smiling, as if she weren't weeping at all. "I just wanted to remember what this looks like. I never want a battle to go that way ever again."

She's staring out at empty sand, but for the first time in all these months, he believes her. Not just at her word, but in the anguish on her face.

Anguish, he's sure, echoes in his own.

"We must not fall behind," he says, as if it matters. 

"I know," she says, and for some reason she reaches for his hand. Her fingers are slight compared to his, skinny and delicate. Not suited to anything but a light blade, he thinks, even if her grip on his fingers is firm. "Frederick?"

He doesn't say anything. He just looks at her, sorely tempted to pull away, but he imagines he can feel the warmth of her fingers even through the thick leather of his gloves, even in the oppressive heat of his armor.

"I'm sorry," she says. "I'm so sorry for your loss."

The words hit him staccato, one by one.

"May I..." she trails. "May I hug you? You look like you need it."

The last time he was embraced, it was by Emmeryn herself, and years ago at that.

So he doesn't reply to Rosella, instead just watching her stonily, and she sighs and embraces him anyway. She wraps her arms around him, barely reaching around the thick plackart of his breastplate. An easiness settles over him -- one he hadn't expected.

"You're the strongest person I've ever met," she says. "But you can be sad, too."

He just gingerly wraps his arms around her.


End file.
